5 New-Fangled Ways to Get Your SPF On
Hey there, soon-to-be-wrinkled hag-ettes, I’ve got news for you: Any anti-aging advice you’ve heard that’s not some combo of “just have great genes to begin with,” “drink lots of water,” or “always wear sunscreen” is bunk. (Mind you, I’m not talking about the various things you can pay a fancy dermatologist to do to your face — I’m referring to the minefield of ‘anti-wrinkle’ lotions and potions available for purchase at local drug dens like Sephora.)
You’re on your own as far as the genes go—and while water is still pretty much free, wearing sunscreen is not a joke if you want to avoid looking like a Fruit Roll-Up at any age. This sunscreen will likely cost you a fair amount of money, but will be well worth it to feel smug as hell as you apply it every single morning.
You’re likely reading this in the dead of winter, thinking that at least you don’t need to be worried about sunscreen in such dreadful weather, but you are wrong daddy wrong, because it’s just as easy for your skin to suffer sun damage in the winter as it is the summer.
Sadly, there are almost zero regular fancy-pants moisturizers that have a high enough sun protection factor to actually be of any use. (And I think I know why—SPF adds to the grease factor and cause mad flashback in photos.) So I’ve learned to get my SPF on in alternative ways.
Dermalogica Solar Defense Booster (SPF 50)
This product bills itself as an SPF booster, a squirt of which is meant to be added to whatever moisturizer you like. Which is fine, brilliant, revolutionary, even; but what nobody stops to consider is that diluting an SPF 50 product with a no-SPF moisturizer effectively cuts the SPF in half — if not more. For that reason, it’s best to apply this non-chalky, ultra-light cream to clean skin, wait one minute for it to sink in, then apply your regular moisturizer on top.
I wasn’t all that sure this SPF booster junk was even working until I was summoned to a last-minute production meeting that for some reason took place on a reflective rooftop in the blazing late summer California sun. Two hours and a hundred dumb questions from the prop guy later, I didn’t even have a hint of a sunburn.
Supergoop! City Sunscreen Serum, SPF 30
While Dermalogica’s SPF booster is akin to an ultra-light, buildable moisturizer, Supergoop’s SPF 30 serum goes on more like a makeup primer and absorbs instantly. You can apply your favorite moisturizer immediately after using it. This serum is light as a feather and doesn’t interfere with anything you put on over it.
Coola Face Rose Essence Tint, SPF 20
If you don’t wear foundation every day, this tinted cream by Coola is a nice way to even out skin tone AND get a decent dose of SPF. Not only is it made with 97 percent organic ingredients in small batches by a surfer in San Diego, it also smells like roses!
While the Dermalogica Solar Defense Booster and Supergoop Serum are both considered chemical sunscreens, which work by absorbing the sun’s rays, the Coola tint is a physical sunscreen — as it contains titanium dioxide, which provides an actual physical barrier to block the sun’s rays.
Peter Thomas Roth Oily Problem Skin Instant Mineral, SPF 30
This brush-on SPF product from Peter Thomas Roth is also a physical sunscreen (containing both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) — just in translucent mineral powder form. It’s also one of my holy-grail products, as it provides an easy, portable way to fight midday shine with a bonus dose of SPF.
Mustela Broad-Spectrum Mineral sunscreen stick, SPF 50
Mustela is a luxe French beauty line for babies, and this 50 SPF mineral sunscreen stick (containing titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) is the star of their product lineup. It’s perfect to use on your neck, chest, and décolletage. The Mustela stick is not greasy, but you’ll need to rub it in well and wait a few minutes before dressing.
One last SPF note: Immediately kick to the curb any hippie-love no-toxins mommy blogger trying to sell you a recipe for homemade, ‘natural’ sunscreen. Every single one of them call for zinc oxide, which must be blasted into tiny nano-particles in order to stay adhered to a cream base and do its job — something you could never accomplish with a spoon or even a retro mortar and pestle. In short: They don’t really work.
Plus, any homemade sunscreen recipe that calls for adding in every blogger’s favorite ingredient — coconut oil — is asking for trouble, as (duh!) all oils absorb light, allowing UV rays penetrate your skin. SICK BURN, MOMMY BLOGGERS!
I am the author of ‘How to Get Dressed: A Costume Designer’s Secrets for Making Your Clothes Look, Fit, and Feel Amazing’.
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